OXFORD, Miss. — Mississippi coach Hugh Freeze was at Jackson Country Club on Wednesday night, giving his yearly rah-rah speech about the Rebels overcoming adversity and getting ready for the college football season.
Less than 24 hours later, he resigned in a stunning turn of events that athletic director Ross Bjork said was based on a pattern of "inappropriate conduct" that he didn't specify.
The school found at least one call on his school-issued cellphone that was associated with several websites advertising a female escort service in the Tampa 813 area code, Yahoo Sports and USA Today reported.
Freeze wasn't available for comment.
Co-offensive coordinator Matt Luke was named interim coach.
What Bjork did say at a hastily called news conference Thursday night:
• The resignation did not involve the NCAA investigation of which the school is a subject.
• The school's investigation started last week after a Freedom of Information request revealed a concerning phone call that lasted less than a minute. The school then looked into the rest of Freeze's phone records and found more problems.
• Vetting of the records disclosed a "pattern of conduct" that led school officials to confront Freeze on Wednesday night. "Coach Freeze was very transparent, open, honest and admitted the conduct."
• Freeze met again with school officials Thursday morning and offered his resignation, which was immediately accepted. If Freeze had not resigned, the school would have "exercised the termination clause in the contract for moral turpitude."
• If the information school officials uncovered was made public, the reason for the decision would be clear.
"I think we need to respect how (Freeze) resigned and respect his privacy," Bjork said. "The conduct was just not something we could continue with as our head coach."
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Hugh Freeze: No hard feelings toward Houston Nutt.
Yahoo Sports last week asked Freeze and Bjork about a January 2016 call to a number with a Detroit area code, 313, but otherwise associated with several websites advertising a female escort service in the Tampa area. The phone number has been disconnected, USA Today reported.
Freeze told Yahoo Sports last Friday that the call had been brought to Ole Miss administrators' attention by former coach Houston Nutt's attorney, Thomas Mars, and that they had questioned him about it. Freeze said he had no idea why the call was on his phone records.
"I was in an 813 area code, and that was a 313 number. I think that might have been a misdial," Freeze said. "I don't think there was even a conversation. There's nothing to it."
Yahoo Sports said it obtained Freeze's phone records from Mars, whose client is suing Ole Miss for breach of contract in his 2011 dismissal. The January 2016 call lasted one minute.
USA Today reported that on July 13 — one day after Nutt filed his lawsuit against Ole Miss — Mars sent an e-mail to Lee Tyner, the school's general counsel, referencing a "phone call Coach Freeze made that would be highly embarrassing for all of you and extremely difficult to explain."
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Explore all your optionsThe resignation of Freeze, 47, ends a five-year tenure that included a Sugar Bowl victory and a wide-ranging NCAA investigation into rules violations.
Freeze took over after Nutt was fired during a miserable 2011 season that ended with a 2-10 record.
The Rebels had a quick rise under Freeze. They finished 7-6 in 2012 and won the Birmingham Bowl.
The Rebels continued to surge on the field and on the recruiting trail over the next several seasons. They signed some of the nation's top recruits in 2013. They helped push the program to eight wins in 2013, nine in 2014 and a 10-3 record in 2015 and a Sugar Bowl victory over Oklahoma State after that season.
But Ole Miss' newfound ability to recruit at a high level drew the attention of the NCAA, which was already investigating the school for a handful of violations that occurred during Nutt's tenure. The investigation — alleging 21 charges of academic, booster, and recruiting misconduct — has overshadowed much of the Rebels' success, especially over the past year. The school has already self-imposed several penalties, including a one-year postseason ban for the upcoming season.
Freeze — who was making more than $5 million per year — had a 39-25 record over five seasons, including a 19-21 mark in the SEC. Bjork said Freeze won't receive a buyout of his contract.